


Things that Consume Us

by Rangerskirt



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Madoka Magica Fusion, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Aquaphobia, Characters probably Ooc, Don't need to see to read this, Drama, Ed is socially awkward but brave, Family, Hurt/Comfort, Kimblee is a Psychopath, M/M, Magical Boys, Mentioned Terminal Illnesses, Mentions of Suicide, Minor Violence, Neglect, Riza is a good friend, Roy Whump, Slice of Life, Some Action, Underage - Freeform, Van is trying to be a good dad, Witches, bisexual Ed, bottom!Roy, dark themes, moody teenagers, older!ed, only by a year, slow burn'ish, some blood, there will be crying, top!Ed, touch starved, younger!roy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-05-26 04:53:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14993231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rangerskirt/pseuds/Rangerskirt
Summary: With everything that had happened in the last five years to Ed; his mother passing, having to live with his slightly estranged father, Al getting sick with the same thing their mother had, and all the little things in between, Ed figured hey why not add hunting magical Witches to that roster. If putting his life on the line fighting evil is what it took to save Al's life he would do it in a heartbeat.----In which Ed makes a contract with Kyubey to become a magical boy in order to save Al's life, what he didn't expect was having to deal with this other boy also fighting Witches but with a really bad attitude. Fate throws them together but it might not be able to tear them apart again.(Temp Hiatus due to irl and fandom stuff I'm working on)





	1. It All Began on a Friday

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a while for me writing in this series annnnd I've always had a thing for Roy being a tortured and sad soul so you can expect that from this. You DO NOT have to know anything about Madoka Magica to read this, I've taken the idea but am not following most of the plot. If you have seen Madoka Magica you'll probably notice some similarities here and there with things.
> 
> Notes:  
> -This series will be 10'ish chapters long..  
> This story is mostly to satisfy my whims of a younger/bottom roy with angst. :3  
> (UPDATE)(I've been in a huge Detroit: Become Human fad lately so I'm going to write that for a while and then come back to do the last few chapters of this. Sorry if anyone happens to be waiting for chapters but don't worry it'll get finished~)

As soon as the school bell rang releasing its students Edward was one of the first to gather his things and rush out the door to freedom. He jumped on his bike and pedaled away towards the park he and his friends usually gathered at Fridays after classes, seeing the metal bars that surrounded the park to prevent cars from entering Ed slammed on his breaks and came to a screeching halt right before them. For him Friday couldn't have come fast enough, the last two weeks had felt like some of the longest in his life, which was saying a lot considering what he'd been through in the last few years alone.

Walking in he let his rusty bike fall into the dirty with a clunk and dropped his school bag next to it. "Yo Ed! I almost didn't recognize you in that fancy smancy private school uniform!" his friend Russell called from lounging on an old bouncy toy meant for much smaller children. "Long sleeves...it covers your automail arm pretty well." Clicking his tongue Ed gave a slightly irritated smile, Russel was practically like a brother, fun to hang out with but infuriating at times. "Maroon isn't exactly my color either." Ed said back with a nip in the tone.

Seeming amused the taller boy didn't move from his lounging spot, "I was worried now that you're going to that school you might make some new friends and think you're too cool to come hang out with us." Again there was no real bite or seriousness behind Russel's words so Ed didn't take them to heart. "I've always been too cool to hang out with you."

The uniform was something Ed didn't think he'd ever get used to, even if he was only in his second year of high school. Black slacks, white button up shirt with a tie, and the maroon overcoat with pockets and the school insignia on the left chest. It was far more formal than the blond was used to and if he'd wore red by choice it would have been a brighter more crimson color. Proper had never quite been his style.

"No Winry or Fletcher today?" Ed asked as he unbuttoned his overcoat to shrug off and hang over a low-hanging branch and then loosening his tie. "Nope, Winry's helping her grandma at the shop and Fletcher's made some new friends he went off with. Probably good he hangs out with some people his own age since your brother has been recovering." both of their younger brothers were only a year younger than them but sometimes it made all the difference. "Yeah that's good I guess, but now I'm stuck with just you." taking a seat below the tree Ed leaned his back against the bark.

With a scoff, Russel brushed off the comment before asking, "So you really can't hang out this weekend? I thought you were practically a genius and yet you're telling me you've got to study?" he took Ed's loud groan as a yes and continued, "Lame. We're only second years Ed, we should have at least some fun this year and make some chaos somewhere. Oh! There's a big local concert happening in a few months and you've _got_ to come with me! Gonna be the biggest party of the year as I hear it!" his friend's voice exploded with excitement.

"Russ' the year literally just started." Ed rolled his eyes with lack of amusement.

With a laugh, the taller boy said, "Yeah yeah, you're going! Even if I have to drag you. I'm determined to find you a girl or boyfriend this year." The promise made Ed's cheeks flush with the slightest pink color and he quickly changed the topic as he tried to ignore the warm gem he could literally feel glowing in his pants pocket. Ever since that day things hadn't felt quite real, even talking to Russel felt less genuine and more like an act on his part.

Returning home to his families two bedroom apartment he walked in and kicked off his shoes letting them land in a scattered fashion. He walked straight into his brother's room, they used to share when they were younger until Alphonse had gotten gravely sick and he'd decided to take the couch from then on. "Hey Al, you look like you're feeling pretty good today."

His little brother was still pale and thin but finally he'd been released from the hospital, on the road to recovery. Even if he didn't look it Ed had noticed the changes, Al slept less and when he did it was more of a restful sleep, he could eat more properly and all around had more energy and life in his eyes. Thinking of the low point Al had been at six months ago in the hospital and the difference now put a smile on Ed's face, even his brother's dirty blond buzz-cut hair was starting to grow a bit longer.

"Yeah, I feel good Ed. My doctor wasn't lying when he said it was a miracle recovery, if only mom could have gotten it instead of-" the compassionate younger boy started only for Ed to push a hand over his mouth to silence him. In a stern voice Ed muttered, "Don't say that, none of us wanted her gone but...she would definitely have wanted you to have the miracle." The sickness was a hereditary one passed down from their mother's side, luckily Ed hadn't carried it but instead been born with a bad arm the doctors had quickly amputated.

When he'd been about ten years old Ed had qualified for the experimental automail limbs program, the surgery was harsh for a young boy but he'd managed and now the metal machinery moved as easily as a part of him as any other body part. Ed wasn't ashamed of the piece but neither was he exactly proud of it, sometimes it made him feel less human and especially so when people would stare in public at it.

Thinking about his mother still hurt his heart even if she'd passed over four years prior, even more so after Ed had been able to give a miracle to his brother's health. If only he'd been able to grant that to her as well.

Al nodded in agreement and smiled very lightly, pushing the hand away from his face. "You're right...I was actually just going to lay down for a while. Unless you needed something?" his feeble yet also strong voice said.

"Oh, no. I'm just coming through here to use the shower." it was a blatant lie that Al didn't call him out on, the other bathroom had a perfectly good shower to use and Ed was obviously just looking for an excuse to come in and check on his brother. "Okay, make sure to rub down your automail with the oil Winry gave you so it doesn't rust. She'll get really mad if she sees even a speck on it!"

A shiver ran down his spine at the thought, "Y-Yeah, right." Winry's family, the Rockbell's, specialized in making the automail pieces which had become quite popular in more recent years. Winry herself was his age and went to Ed's old school, she was extremely competent at making and caring for the metal pieces even at just sixteen years old. She was well on her way to taking over the family business and Ed had nothing but respect for her in those aspects. On the other hand she could be terrifying when she yelled at him for getting scratches or nicks in his armored piece, it had caused them to squabble many times over their years as friends.

After his shower Ed pulled the covers up over Al a bit further, his brother had already fallen asleep in the short time he'd been in the bathroom and was snoring peacefully. Creeping out of the room the blond finished his homework within the hour before crashing on the couch. Saturday started out as any other. Starting with making breakfast and watching his father, Van Hohenheim, groggily exit his room and grab a paper plate fully and patting Ed on the head with sleepy eyes before leaving straight to work. They weren't exactly close but Ed had to admit the man was trying his best to keep their household together.

Then he went to eat breakfast with Alphonse and helped him with whatever homeschooling questions he'd gathered from his books during the week, Ed cleaned up the house and towards early evening he gave Al his medication which would make him sleep pretty much through the rest of the evening into the night.

While finishing up cleaning some dishes Ed's chest started to feel odd, a sickening pulsing warmth spread so he dug something out of his pocket. A silver metal and very old-fashioned pocket watch that inside held a gem as golden as his which was imbedded into the middle near the hands of the clock, it was glowing with a rapid flicker related to the feeling in his chest. "Shit, this one's close..." With no other choice he finished up and locked the apartment behind him.

The sun was already far down on the horizon so that meant he had limited time to find the creature associated with the glowing, a Witch. Monsters that normal people couldn't see and that caused destructions people saw as natural disasters, or emphasized dark thoughts in people's minds making them hurt others or commit suicide. Witches became much more active at night so Ed needed to hurry to make sure it wouldn't hurt anyone.

Two weeks ago Al's health had taken a turn for the worse, as the doctors put it a final nosedive that he couldn't possibly spring back from. Ed had ran up to the hospital roof and punched the wall so hard with his automail it had cracked and dented, that's when he'd met Kyubey. A little white fox-cat-rabbit creature with blood red eyes that offered him a sure fire way that his brother would get better. Saying that he could grant Ed any one wish in return for him becoming a late night magical boy vigilante fighting and killing Witches.

He'd only half believed it at the time even as Kyubey performed his magic and created the Soul Gem straight from Ed's chest, but when Al got better almost immediately Ed couldn't deny what had happened. He'd been trying to hunt down Witches since at night or on the weekend but so far each of the two times he'd gotten his ass kicked and forced to flee, he hadn't been given too much information on the creatures or how to exactly fight them. He was on his own.

Tonight would be different, he had been mentally preparing with ideas on how to use his new powers to take down the dark creatures so he would prevail. Checking his pocket watch and the Soul Gem, it was flickering even faster as he grew close to an old building Ed had heard knew to be a popular place for people to commit suicide, the perfect place for a Witch to hatch it's Labyrinth.

Ascending the old creaking stairs Ed went straight to the rooftop, a young woman with dark brown hair was leaning over the edge, on her neck Ed could see a swirly purple tattoo-like mark on her neck...a Witches kiss. "Miss...miss..." he tried to get her attention and moved closer, reaching out for her shoulder. "I want to disappear..." her croaky voice muttered, "I just want everything to disappear..." In a quick movement she climbed onto the railing ready to jump, but Ed grabbed her arm and yanked her down to the ground a bit roughly. 'Shit sorry! You ok?"

The woman was laying there, she didn't seem harmed but was staring up blankly at the darkening evening sky, the tattoo on her neck started to glow, "No no no wait-!" he called but the Labyrinth exploded around him and swallowed him inside. The world around Ed changed immediately, looking unreal and a visage of undescribable objects jutting from the ground and swirling colors in the sky. "Fuck!" Looking around quickly he tried to spot the Witch but it had already hidden deep into it's Labyrinth. "Fuck!" he yelled louder.

Pulling his pocket watch from his pants Ed changed into his work outfit, as he liked to put it, a black outfit with a crimson red coat, his automail arm side had no sleeves and the metal was bulkier in this form. "I have to find it before it consumes her." he worried and began his frantic search for the beast, these worlds were so hard to navigate as they threw off all normal senses and had no right or rhythm to get used to.

Like the maze it was named after Ed couldn't find his way around and began panicking in short, punching the wall with his automail he cursed loudly again. "You're very bad at this aren't you?" A voice seemed to emanate from all around at first and towards the end fade into sounding just to the side of Ed as he jumped to look towards it, automail arm raised and ready to defend himself and fight.


	2. A Cute Boys Phone Number

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Roy don't get off to the best start.

Before him stood another boy, a teenager seeming about his age and wearing a blue almost military-style uniform and a pocket watch chain hanging from one of his pockets. Like him when the other teen was in his magical work outfit the gem from inside the watch was embedded onto one of his hands instead, glowing gently but colored a dark gray rather than Ed's golden color. The other boy had a hand resting on his hip and stood in a very casual stance looking unhinged by everything around them. "You're new aren't you? Only a newbie would get swallowed into a Labyrinth by accident instead of on purpose."

Blinking at the other before him Ed slowly lowered his arm as the other turned on his heels and started walking deeper into the maze before them. "You're like me." A flutter of feelings went on through Ed's chest. _Oh, he's sort of cute.._ the thought crossed his mind.

"No. I'm better than you." the other teen didn't stop walking further away so Ed quickly stepped into stride to catch up. "Tch screw you, so I'm new that isn't a crime!" _Scratch that, he's an asshole!_

"You're right, but it is a sure fire way to get killed or get _me_ killed." a burning irritation started to build inside of Ed's stomach and he clenched his fists as he followed along. "Teach me then if you're so damn great." he said not expecting anything to come of it. This guy already was getting under his skin, just showing up and acting like he was so much better than Ed without any incentive!

"Lesson one, though Witches don't speak their Labyrinths say a lot about them. You see those signs everywhere that say _Evanescet_? That's the Witch's name." the boy stated simply and slowly started individually cracking each of his knuckles. "If you concentrate on your Soul Gem it'll point you in the right direction almost like a compass."

Ed wanted to be angry and irritated, this wasn't how he'd ever pictured someone showing up and teaching him about Witches, he'd only imagined it a few times since he had just gotten this job but it was different. Styled like a movie where a slightly older mentor, male or female he had no preference, would show up in a sauve way and smirk. Then they would make a few chided comments but happily take him under their wings like a superhero and a sidekick.

Instead he'd gotten a stone-faced brat who looked slightly younger than Ed did! The attitude definitely didn't gain him any cute points in Ed's book.

After a few short and quiet moments of walking he said, "I'm Edward by the way, not that you seem to care. Edward Elric."

"Roy." the other said in a flat tone then extended his right hand and stopped dead in his tracks. "We're here, get ready to defend yourself Edward Elric."

"Already? But my Soul Gem is pulling me...up?" his voice slowed in confusion as Ed lifted his gem hand and concentrated his mind to it, the pull definitely felt like it was telling him to go straight up from where they stood. Watching his gem glow a drop of some thick liquid dripped from above onto his hand, shaking it Ed made a face. "What the-!?" and looked up at the swirling dark colors of the sky.

It had never resembled a sky, more like a dome keeping them trapped but just ahead of where they stood the ceiling was sagging, pulsing and dripping into a puddle of the same colored liquid on the ground.

Their Soul Gems started to glow brightly in sync and Roy said in an almost hushed but hurried voice, "Move." before Ed even had a chance to do so the other teen grabbed the front of his shirt and dragged him to the side in a dash as an elastic arm made of the goop attacked them. "If you aren't going to be any help then find a place to hide and let me handle this!"

"This is my job too, I'm going to help!" Ed half shouted back. Similar arms started to emerge, swiping and slamming into wherever they could trying to attack both of the magical teens as they kept jumping around. Ed could tell already, Roy was fast, he wasn't sure exactly how but he was so fast at times you couldn't even see him.

"Do you fight up close or from afar?" Roy managed to ask between their playing the deadly game of jump rope with the Witch. "Close up mostly!" Ed called back as the beast drove them further apart. "I'll draw its attention, when you see the opening go in for the kill!" another arm slammed down next to Ed and caused more dust to fly in the air from broken debris.

He wasn't sure how that was going to work since the Witch was clearly focused equally on both of them, until a small explosion of fire went off. Whatever liquid the Witch was made of ignited like gasoline and spread up the arms until they burned off and were left wriggling like fish until they melted into the ground. The arms focused on him moved to attack Roy only to be burned off in another friendzy of fire that extended from his hand when he snapped his fingers, burning off in a similarly gruesome way.

Spotting that the Witch had started regrowing arms Ed jumped into action, clapping his hands together creating a sparking red energy as he chose the form of his arm to change into. Ed changed his automail arm into a large sword, deadly and sharp to the touch as he dove in as fast as he could with the opening in front of him. He slashed away at the bulging liquid in the middle of where the arms had formed from, though it did nothing to the thick liquid he was able to get further into the center until he found the heart.

It was shaped like an old stuffed animal rabbit, despite being in the middle it was untouched by the goo and Ed didn't hesitate to put his weapon straight through it, cutting it open and stuffing going flying everywhere. The Witch screamed but almost instantly from the well-placed strike it shriveled, died, and the Labyrinth disappeared spitting Ed and Roy back out onto the roof of the building. A small clatter sounded as a grief seed was all that was left from the Witch.

Looking unscathed Roy had landed on his feet and picked it up but held it out towards the other teen, who had landed on his ass but stood up quickly. "You're new so I'll let you have it this one time, I won't part with one as easily next time."

"Ahhh...thanks?" Ed muttered questioningly and took it as Roy dropped it into his open palm, "You're going to think I'm an idiot but what are these things for anyways? Kyubey only told me to collect them and that they're important...Hey don't give me that look I'm new!" Roy's face had changed from one of sternness to complete disbelief of Ed's stupidity.

"I suppose it doesn't hurt to teach you one last thing. Take it and press it to your Soul Gem." Ed only paused for a moment before doing so. "See how your Soul Gem is slightly more cloudy than it was earlier? That's because you used up some of your magic, these restore it and clear the gem up." as promised once touched together the grief seed absorbed all of the darkness clouding the golden gem leaving it brighter than ever and a warm feeling beating in Ed's chest.

"You can usually get a couple small uses, or a big one, out of the seeds and when you're done Kyubey will dispose of them for you." That explained why they seemed so important, the more grief seeds Ed could collect the more magic he could use freely and that meant he would be stronger and able to take down tougher opponent Witches.

"Wow." Ed couldn't tear his eyes off of Roy, "That's pretty awesome!" he couldn't help but to grin gleefully, unfortunately that same joy didn't seem to be spreading and Roy started moving further away. "Wait wait!" he didn't let it spread over his face but a smug feeling tickled Ed's brain as he grabbed Roy's wrist. "So like this?"

Pulling the other teen a bit closer Roy stiffened and tried to shrug Ed off, "Get off!" Ed touched the grief seed to Roy's silverish gem and watched it clear up, then the grief seed seemed to wither and fade color more than it had looked before. "I think I've got it." Was he flirting? Maybe. Even if the other teen was sort of cold and rude he was cute, maybe he could get the other to warm up to him.

Yanking his wrist away Roy still refused to smile, "Don't touch me, and you're more of an idiot than I thought. I gave it to you, just because we worked together didn't mean we had to split the reward. That is not the type of attitude you want to have going into this responsibility." he scolded and held his hand to his chest, as if protecting it from Ed's touch. "Other magical boys and girls will fight you if they're desperate enough or in a bad mood."

"I'm not worried." changing back into his normal clothes, a hoodie and some shorts, Ed stretched his arms. _If he wanted to fight he wouldn't have let me have the grief seed._ "Hey, give me your number!" scrounging around in his pants pockets Ed pulled out a half broken pencil and a gum wrapper that he held out. "U-Um...for work I mean, just in case either of us gets into trouble and needs help." He was pretty sure his intentions were crystal clear but it made the anxious feeling in his chest lesson to make a verbal excuse.

Whether Roy saw through him or not he hesitated but slowly took items and scrawled down his number, "Please don't blow up my phone with useless chit-chat." he sighed out already with regret. "Not a problem I actually don't have a cell phone. Only a home."

Nodding Roy said, "Last thing, next time make sure to take care of whatever people are being controlled by the Witch before entering the Labyrinth...if you value human life I mean. It's fine if you don't."

Unsure of what he meant Ed was hit with a sudden deep pang of guilt, the young lady who had been ready to jump, she could have come to her senses and decided to jump at any point that he was inside fighting the Witch. Luckily Roy had taken initiative and tied her up before jumping in himself and had already untied her, Ed's eyes lingered with the guilt prevalent. She could have died and it would have been his fault, all because he was so bad at hunting Witches.

"She's fine, try not to beat yourself up over it." with that Roy seemed to turn into shadows and was gone from his sight, trying to push the growing pit in his stomach down and away so he whistled slowly into the night air. He ended up sticking around until the young woman woke up, she was addled and unsure of what she had been thinking so Ed talked to her until she settled down and was able to walk home.

On his own walk home Ed found himself looking at the number on his gum wrapper, a feeling deep in his gut told him it wasn't the last they would see of each other. He couldn't say that he particularly liked Roy for his personality but there was something calming about knowing that you weren't in a situation all by yourself, there was someone else like you out there to share in the experience.

Sneaking into the apartment the blond closed the door quietly behind him and kicked off his shoes in his usual lazy fashion. "I didn't think you'd still be up." he said seeing that the kitchen light was on and his father was sitting at the small table looking at a newspaper. The taller man folded the paper and set it down, "I got home late and you still weren't home, I was worried." he really didn't sound happy about that but it was nothing new, Ed rarely came back early after going out.

"I was just out with Russel messing around, didn't get into any trouble I promise." Ed tried to say lightly to keep the situation from turning into an argument. With his frown deepening Hohenheim stood up from the table and walked over, placing a hand on Ed's shoulder to make sure he didn't try to escape into the bathroom. "Edward I know...I know you're not very fond of me, but you'd tell me if there was something wrong wouldn't you?"

For a moment it felt like there was a knot in his throat preventing him from answering but Ed fought through it and forced himself to speak. "Yeah...sure. Like I said nothing is wrong though, I was just out with friends and playing video games." Pushing the hand off of his shoulder he added, "Get some sleep, it's your turn to take care of Al tomorrow." It was times like these Ed really missed having a room to escape to from awkward situations, instead he was left in the open area of the connected living room getting ready to sleep on the couch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Evanescet = Vanish (Latin - Google Translated)


	3. The Boy with the Cold Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed's works himself up to talking to Roy, it goes pretty good...until it suddenly doesn't.

His first thought waking up the following Monday from the weekend was of that dark-eyed boy who'd helped him slay his first Witch, Roy had been on his mind throughout the entirety of his weekend. He was even on Ed's mind as he mindlessly walked through the hallways of school with his backpack on his way towards his locker, so when he saw him Ed was almost positive it had to be some hallucination brought on by his imagination going wild.

Roy stood there in front of a row of lockers meant for first years, same uniform that Ed was in and hanging up his backpack just like most of the other students. His throat felt dry suddenly and internal panic began, should he go say hello or leave Roy alone? He hadn't even called the other yet for the first time and yet they were so close here, they were going to be so close for the next few years just going to the same school!

With legs on autopilot Ed walked up behind Roy and in a louder voice than intended said, "Roy! I didn't know you went to this school!" and put his hands on both of his sides and grinned widely like an idiot.

Turning around swiftly the glare those dark eyes held was enough to deflate Ed's excitement, he definitely should have left the other teen alone, he didn't look like a morning person at all. "Oh great, _you_ go here?" Ed tried to say something but what could he say? Roy had shown obvious disinterest in becoming friends yet Ed had approached him anyway. "I just...I thought...you know you don't have to be such a fucking brat about this!" the irritation from their first meeting started to swell in his veins again but this time it wasn't stunted by the dangers of needing to fight.

Ed could swear he saw a twitch in Roy's eyebrows about to give some expression other than glare, but it was gone faster than it had occurred. He didn't want to think of himself as desperate for a friend but now he was starting to feel that way when he didn't immediately walk away from the situation. Roy was trying to keep his voice smooth and reduced in anger but it showed, "Maybe that's a hint to leave me the _fuck_ alone then isn't it genius?" He slammed his locker shut and brushed passed Ed down the hallway.

There wasn't much else he could do or say, Ed went to every one of his classes and glided through each with ease but boredom. The teen had never been a huge troublemaker at his last school but it had been nice to have people to do group projects in classes, friends to sit with at lunchtime and the like. Unlike the new school which sure was going to look great on his resume for college but he felt like a foreign exchange student who everyone was too nervous to try speaking to and vice versa.

Roy was quite literally the only other student Ed had tried to talk to in school so far, and that was because their icebreaker had been a giant Witch fight. There was no way he'd be able to approach anyone else. So when a short haired blond girl walked right up to him and started speaking Ed's mind almost completely blanked out of existence.

"Did you hear me? I was just asking how you know Roy?" her face wasn't smiling and at first he was worried that he was going to have another Roy situation on his hands but then noticed her eyes were much softer, as was her speaking tone. "I'm Riza by the way."

"Edward." he managed out first, "Um we just kind of bumped into each other over the weekend, thought I'd try talking to him at school but obviously that was a bad idea...Wait. Do you know him then?" Even someone with such a piss poor attitude had more friends at this richy rich school than he did.

She tilted her head just slightly thinking that over and deemed it believable enough, "I see...I was really hoping he'd made a new friend. As I'm sure you've noticed he isn't very friendly." It seemed as if she'd known him for quite some time.

"You're his friend then?"

"I was, or I am. It's...complicated." He could tell by the tone of her voice that the subject was stressful for her so it was no surprise that she didn't go into much detail or explanation. "We've been friends for a long time but sometime last year at our middle school he suddenly became very different, distant, he won't talk to me much anymore."

Ed knew immediately what could have caused a change like that, his guess was that it was the time Roy had gained his magical abilities and something had happened or he hadn't handled it well and began internally suppressing himself. "I'm glad to hear he hasn't always been like this."

"I'm sorry about him, once he told me that I could never understand what he's going through and that was one of the reasons why we stopped hanging out...I just hope he can find someone like that one day. It was nice to meet you Edward, see you around." holding her school books close to her chest Riza turned and started to walk away. "Yeah see you!" he called back and then muttered under his breath, "She's cute and cares about you, really lost out there Roy.."

Riza's words resonated with him on a personal level, when things had gotten rough in his family in the past Ed had felt like no one could possibly understand him. He knew exactly how isolating that could feel, how lonely it could become, and how dark it could make you think. With a newfound determination he muttered only to himself, "I guess I could give talking to him a few more tries, for his sake and Riza's peace of mind."

That night when Ed had laid in bed after doing all of his chores, spending some time with Al, and doing his homework the blond found sleep just fighting out of his grasp. Scenarios kept playing over in his head how he would approach Roy and what he would say but each one was got worse and less desirable until his mind exhausted itself and fell into slumber somewhere around two in the morning.

Morning came too quickly, the teen hit his alarm clock and groaned loudly but forced himself to get up and do his early morning routine. As he made breakfast his father walked in and blinked, "Up late last night? The toast is burning." and popped the blackened bread from the toaster but started spreading butter on the pieces to eat anyways.

"Mn yeah." he grumbled and rubbed some heavy sleep from his eyelids once again as he stirred the cooking scrambled eggs against his pan over the stove. "Couldn't sleep for some reason." he rubbed the other eye as well but no matter how much he did it didn't seem to be helping.

Ed didn't see it in his exhaustion but his father brushed his fingers over his neatly trimmed beard and smiled softly, "Being a teenager is tough." he said in a teasing tone but then ruffled his hand over Ed's long hair. "Have a good day at school son, I'm sure whatever has been on your mind will settle itself soon." Hohenheim put two and two together, Ed was probably interested in someone at school and fussing about it. Taking his buttered and burnt toast he left off to work.

During his entire walk to school the blond brushed his hair from his eyes several times before finally noticing he'd forgotten to put his hair up, he pulled it into a messy ponytail. "Much better." Then proceeded back into his mind as he walked, going over more scenarios on how to approach Roy without getting turned away. "I just...I need to be stern, have a backbone but not be harsh. Say 'hey you and I have something in common so we might as well help each other. Sit with me at lunch' Yeah that'll work!"

All of that inspired confidence in him, confidence that dropped to zero percent once he stepped into school and saw Roy at his locker, that feeling returned where his throat went dry. His feet refused to stop so instead he eyed Roy from a side glance going by, all he was able to spot were a selection of thick novels, definitely not school required books.

Each day at school went by much the same for a week and a half, Ed would try to bring up the courage to talk to Roy again but each time chickened out in the end. His sleep had gotten better but there were nights just thinking about it made him nervous and anxious so he couldn't sleep until his body put out early in the morning. On the weekend that passed by Ed had hunted down a Witch and two Familiars, which were beings that broke off from Witches when they became powerful enough and could eventually grow into Witches of their own if they consumed enough people. Almost as dangerous as the full thing but didn't drop any grief seeds when killed.

He had no confidence in talking to new people, at least seeing Roy in action last time had given Ed a new quick-thinking attitude towards fighting the nightmarish creatures. He felt more determined than ever before, if someone small and lanky like Roy could take on the Witches by himself then Ed could as well, and he had so far since.

On the following Thursday from that weekend rain hit heavily sometime while in school, strange since the forecast for the entire week had been nothing but sun and clear skies with no storms in sight. Ed was lucky that Al had always nagged him to keep a collapsible umbrella in his locker for just in case situations like today, it was pouring cats and dogs outside with no intention of settling down anytime soon. Slinging his backpack over his shoulders Ed walked out the school doors, holding his umbrella in its closed form as he stopped underneath the overhang of the building for a moment to watch the rain pelt the ground.

Other students walked by with umbrellas, some ran, others used their backpacks trying to shield themselves from the cold droplets. One student stood out just a few feet away, dark hair and eyes as he also stood under the overhang with no umbrella. As the initial crowd of students rushed off despite the weather it left Ed and Roy standing there with only the occasional person leaving through the door they stood in front of.

"No umbrella?" Ed asked, still looking at the rain and not looking over at Roy.

"It wasn't supposed to rain." the other muttered but this time his voice didn't sound irritated directionally at Ed, but the weather itself. "I...don't like rain." Roy's voice was different than Ed had ever heard it, on the verge of sounding vulnerable and very sad. Finally turning towards the dark haired teen Ed smiled gently and clicked his umbrella open before lifting it and extending it between them. "Okay, then I'll walk with you so you don't get wet. How about it?"

Dark eyes met his, then flickered to the rain and then back to his again. Roy nodded and stated in a content voice, "Yeah, okay." and stepped under the umbrella with Ed. "I don't live really far, hopefully it isn't out of your way." Dare Ed think it but Roy almost sounded gentle and friendly, it was like an entirely different person than he'd met before but it didn't stop the accomplished feeling bubbling in his chest.

They stepped out in tandem into the storm shielded only by Ed's trusty clear umbrella, their arms brushing more than often with the limited space and each time Roy seemed to be fighting something within himself. Would he rather get wet on the edge of the umbrella or let their arms continue touching? "I'm sorry if I came on really strong before, there have been a lot of changes in my life recently and it's got me acting all weird compared to how I normally am." Ed apologized, his heart was beating hard in his chest with the anxiety that had been plaguing him as of late whenever he thought of Roy but somehow his voice was coming out almost velvety smooth as he spoke clearly under the pelting rain.

"What are you normally like then?"

"Hm...more like this? I'm not usually so air-headed or all over the place and a nervous wreck...Just my brother recently got out of the hospital so I've been taking care of him, my father's work schedule changed so I'm working with that, then this is my first year into this new school so I know absolutely no one, not to mention the Witch fighting-ah sorry I'm babbling aren't i?" Ed nervously readjusted his grip around the umbrella stem not once but several times in a small fidgeting motion.

"If those are the reasons then I understand, going through that much change in a short time would screw anyone up." Roy said in a very understanding voice. "Your brother, did you use your wish for him?"

With a nod the blond agreed, "Yeah, he was really sick...dying, he would have never survived if I hadn't made that wish. So even if I have to risk my life fighting Witches I have no regrets." There was a long pause between them that felt a bit tense but when Roy spoke up again he still hadn't reverted to his cold tone yet. "That's very kind of you, the two of you must be close then."

"We are, he's only a year younger than me. His name is Alphonse, he's a really good kid and I've been trying to help him catch up on all of the school he's missed with homeschooling books." Ed bragged, "Al is almost as smart as I am, when he's healthy enough to get into high school I bet he could skip a couple grades if he really wanted to!" Or even make it into their school. _Now that I think about it, Roy is Al's age_ isn't _he?_

Roy snorted at that, "You had to take an IQ test to get into our school, what did you score?"

"135!" Ed exclaimed proudly. "You only passed by five points." Roy shot his ego in the middle with an imaginary arrow deflating it. "Uh not that it's bad, 135 is an incredible IQ...I didn't mean to make it sound like that was bad." the slightly shorter teen muttered in apology. "I scored 136 on my test."

Ed felt a bit better but not because they both had just narrowly squeaked in, because Roy was attempting to keep things calm between them and make him feel less stupid. Neither of them was very good at talking to others but maybe two negatives could make a positive. "You're nice when you want to be, thanks Roy." before the other could say anything to change that they looked up at an expensive apartment building and instead he said, "This is my place."

Roy fished his key out of his pocket. Whistling Ed looked up at the tall building, "Your family must have some good money if they can afford to send you to our school _and_ live in one of these places." The younger teen clenched his fists and looked away, "You don't know anything about my family." he snapped.

With a head jerk Ed stared at Roy, where had that come from when they'd been so hospital towards one another? "I don't but-" Roy's own expression looked shocked at his sudden angry outburst but he was already beyond apologizing.

"But nothing!..." Roy turned his whole body away from Ed to avoid eye contact, "Thanks for walking me back, see you." quickly he walked inside the lobby and away from his schoolmate leaving Ed confused and groaning. "Everything was going so well, what did I say that made him so upset?"


	4. Dissolving In Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It starts raining and there's no end in sight, but the rain might be just what Ed needs to wash away some of that armor Roy keeps held up around his heart. (aka, things start happening)

Saturday morning rolled around and Ed sat at the dining rooms small table looking to the side at his brother Alphonse and the other at his father as they ate. After working so constantly hard Hohenheim finally had a few days off from his job for doing such a great job working with his companies new big clientele and his first request on his day off was to have a meal with his boys. Al had just finished going on and on about a new book he'd been reading and then on and on about how Winry had come by the other day after school to hang out with him. His little brother so clearly had a crush on their mutual friend, he gazed off into the distance all of the time, his sleep was better than it used to be but was sporadic and he seemed to be either completely on edge all of the time or the opposite and air-headed.

"And how are things with you Edward, was whatever that was on your mind get cleared up?" the older man lifted an eyebrow being the only one at the table realizing that both of his sons were harboring their own type of crush. "Oh, yeah. I've been trying to make friends at this school but most people think they're too cool to talk to me." he lied, it was easier than explaining what had actually been going on. "I've been trying to talk to this guy, Roy...he's giving me mixed signals."

"Did you ask him for his number?" his father asked with some lift in his tone.

"Well I've already got that, why?" looking into his father's eyes Ed frowned deeply and couldn't prevent the embarrassed flush already on his face. "I'm not talking about that sort of stuff you old idiot! I'm trying to make _friends_!"

"Whatever you say kiddo it's none of my business." the man said with a laugh hidden in his tone, he was amused to no end by this breakfast.

Before Ed could barrage his father with the insults on the tip of his tongue the teen stopped, he could feel his Soul Gem warmly glowing inside of its contained pocket watch that sat in his pocket. A Witch was nearby, glancing out the window it was still pouring outside and hadn't stopped since Thursday afternoon. "Whatever, I'm going to go hang out with Russell for a bit."

"Don't forget your umbrella!" Al called lovingly as his brother rushed his shoes on, "Right, thanks Al!" he grabbed the umbrella at the door before leaving. "Time to get to work." Ed murmured and clicked open his pocket watch to look at the gem inside.

Stepping out into the pouring weather Ed walked along the empty streets under the safety of his umbrella in the direction his gem pulled his mind towards. This Witch was having nothing to do with him that morning, every time Ed felt like he was getting close the direction would change like it was running away from him at a full sprint.

After a few hours of playing chase Ed went home to grab something to eat and check in on his family, only to go unnoticed by his father spending quality time with Al on a new video game they'd bought. It sounded like Al was winning by a long shot.

Leaving for the second time the blond decided to take things easy, he was going to follow the Witch but not overexert himself doing so. It took all evening but as Ed was finishing up a fizzy drink and wandered down a quiet part of town, that was more like a ghost town because of the ongoing rain he skidded to a stop. Peeking down a very tight alleyway his eyes caught sight of what he thought was the edge of a Labyrinth, tipping his head back Ed chugged the rest of his drink before tossing it into a nearby recycling bin. "Let's do this." he cracked his knuckles before transforming his clothes and preparing his automail into a sword.

Squeezing through the alleyway, if you could call it that, he sunk into the Labyrinth and clenched his fists on edge. This one looked like a dark ocean bottom, looking up was like looking down into a pond with flowing water that rippled with waves but didn't fall with gravity. The water was dark but very clear, he could see large fish or creatures swimming above, smaller fish-like critters would jump out here and there but seemed to pay him no mind.

"I wonder if this is where all the rain is coming from...Kyubey did say that Witches could cause powerful destructive storms..." he murmured to himself as he walked along cautiously but followed the feeling in his Gem towards where he would find his target.

Scratched into the sand in places was the name _Sine-Spiritu_ but Ed left them be and tried not to step on them as if doing so would anger the Witch that lived here.

As he grew closer to the danger Ed gasped and broke into a run, "Shit!" The Witch had already been disturbed, it stood tall and filled with water like a wave come to life. Roy, being the studious magical boy he was, had made it here before Ed but was trapped inside of a floating bubble of water, struggling and unable to move as he couldn't breathe. The blond didn't hesitate, he slashed the bubble with his sharp weapon, the water parted and fell to the floor along with Roy as he held his throat and gasped sucking in all of the air he could. "C-Careful this o-one's tough!" he warned.

"If it got you then I'm sure it is." moving to kneel down Ed wanted to help the other teen to his feet but was waved off. "I'm fine." the younger boy croaked, "Keep y-your attention on our opponent."

"Right!" the blond said with determination, he began attacking and slashing at the water. Ed could slice pieces away and they would fall for a time but slowly rebuild, none of it was affecting its health and it kept attacking him with hard water that so far Ed was lucky to have dodged.

"We need to find the heart or this is going to be pointle-Roy?" turning his head away from the monstrous wave to find Roy on the defensive and...shaking. He was visibly shaking and clenching his fists trying to control it, his movements were stiff and very unlike his normal fluid motions. "You're not ok.." he said more to himself, unsure if Roy even heard him say it.

In their environment there was nowhere to hide, the ground was flat and any objects they could hide behind were far back through the Labyrinth too far than what was realistic to get to. "Roy!" he called, rushing over and grabbing the other's arm to pull him out of the way of an attack. "What's wrong, you aren't using your fire?"

"I can't, I'm soaked!" Roy said with widened eyes and almost an apologetic ring to his voice. "I'm fire-based so...so water is my weakness." It seemed to be quite literal and mental for a weakness, Roy seemed terrified of the water. This time Roy pulled them out of the way of an oncoming attack with plenty of time to spare, the stiffness in his legs came and went.

"I see, we'll just have to think of something else then. I keep seeing flashes of something swimming around in the Witches water, it must be the heart. Can you distract it long enough for me to find it? You're way faster than I am." he suggested, Roy looked hesitant and swallowed hard but nodded. "I'll try."

Roy put all of the focus he could into his legs, zipping around and stirring up a bunch of the sand from the floor to create some cover for Ed as he dodged out of the ways of the waters attacks. Ed took the cover in the sandy air whenever Roy kicked it up and watched the wave as closely as he could, waiting for a sign.

As soon as he saw the small and dark shadow moving inside of the water he dove in, slashing at it. His first attack missed but cut away part of the wave which splashed everywhere, including onto Roy where he stood and gasped in a small moment of complete body freeze.

It was enough time for the Witch to scoop him back up into a bubble, Ed's first instinct was to save Roy but then he saw it. The shadow was holding still so he attacked again, this time his weapon finding its home into the heart of the Witch, shaped like a little squirmy fish with red eyes. The Witch screamed and started to fall to the ground, before he could make his way over to Roy the Labyrinth spit them out into the tiny squished alleyway.

Both soaked to the brim Roy was left coughing after his own release, "Shit, are you alright?" Ed tried to move but it was difficult in the limited space, which was only wide enough for one person to shimmy sideways between the walls. "Come on let's get out of this, I'm getting claustrophobic." After getting snagged several times and scraping both his flesh and automail arm on the walls they both made it out, the rain had died down into a very light drizzle and the moon peeked out behind a cloud.

Roy was left still shaking, being out of the Labyrinth hadn't changed much in his shivering. "You were really scared, weren't you?" Without thinking Ed reached out and touched the other teen's shoulders, who nodded quickly but pushed the hand off. "I'm sorry, I'm never... _never_ like this. Just, water...it _had_ to be water. I don't like it, I even hate the rain."

Everyone had their own fears and chances that Roy came upon his specific one was strange but honestly Ed was just glad he was there for it to help. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, here let's get inside somewhere and drink something warm." Making sure to grab the grief seed that had dropped before leaving, down the street there was a 24-hour cafe that let them in even though they were both soaked. Ed brought Roy a hot chocolate and sat down with his cup of coffee. "I wasn't sure what you liked soooo...I guessed."

Sipping it Roy let out a tiny sigh, "This is perfect actually, thank you. Nice and sweet." Smiling Ed waited, sipping his coffee until Roy's shoulders finally relaxed and his hands quite shaking. "So I'm dying to know more about you, you're just this mysterious kid that popped into my life out of nowhere."

Giving him an unsure look Roy looked away and tried to frown, "I guess I owe you that since you practically saved my life tonight, I wouldn't have been able to face that Witch and won without you. What do you want to know Edward?"

"How about what your wish was? I'd tell you but you already figured that out." he laughed nonchalantly and set his coffee down, pulling his hair from its ponytail so that he could re-tie it with all of the stray strands back in that had fallen loose.

Not that he seemed happy but Roy's face fell but nodded anyway, "I don't mind telling you since I know you're not the type to go spreading information around."

"Um hold up, not that I'm complaining but how do you know that?" Sometimes Ed just needed to learn to shut his mouth and take the compliment.

"I can just tell Edward, normally I'm a very good judge of character." Roy said back. "Which is why I've been trying to avoid talking to you like this, I could just tell you're the type of person whose kind and persistent and...and could get me to spill my personal history after saving my life and buying me a hot drink."

Ed's heart felt like it was going to beat out of his chest, not particularly fast but each beat was hard in his chest like a punch. "Since I first saw you I knew I wanted to talk to you, I mean you're so cool the way you fight with so much confidence and still balance school like it's nothing. You're the one person who could possibly understand how it feels to have this job."

A tinge of pink crept up Roy's cheeks but Ed figured it had to be the warmth returning to his skin finally."My wish um...well to explain I'll have to give you some backstory." Roy admitted and fiddled with the cup in his hands, not making eye contact. "My mom wasn't a great person and about two years ago she dropped me off on my dad's doorstep and disappeared. I'd spoken to him a few times but I didn't really know him, he's some fancy smancy lawyer at a big firm."

"Calm down." Ed reached a hand over one of Roy's seeing them tensing up, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to, I didn't mean to force you or anything like that." The younger teen pulled his hand back and finally it clicked in Ed's mind, Roy didn't like to be touched. Why had it taken him so long to realize it?

"No I should tell someone at least, I never had the courage to talk to Riza...ah, my friend, about this stuff. S-So I started living with him, but all he did was ignore me and pretend I wasn't there and claimed that he was too stressed to deal with having a kid. It hurt, then Kyubey showed up and offered me a wish I took it. I wished...I-I wished..." his dark eyes began to sparkle with tears that threatened to spill over.

When Roy couldn't get himself to speak anymore Ed stood up, that was enough. Roy already had been having the worst day dealing with his fears, there was no reason to push his emotions to the breaking point. "Let's get out of here and go for a walk, looks like the rain has stopped out there." he suggested.

Sniffling gently as they left the moon was high in the sky, his father and Al were probably worried sick over where he was even though he was sixteen years old and plenty capable of taking care of himself. Even with that thought in the back of his mind Ed could only really focus on Roy sniffling and trying so hard not to start crying as the warm night air surrounded them and they started walking down the street towards Roy's apartment.

It wasn't until they stopped waiting for a crosswalk light that either of them said anything, the road was buzzing with cars but by the complete opposite the sidewalks were extremely quiet and felt almost secluded. Ed pressed the button and waited patiently, caught by surprise when Roy took a handful of his shirt sleeve into his hand and leaned his forehead against Ed's shoulder. "I wished that my father could be rid of the things that troubled him most in life." Ed wasn't stupid, he could put two and two together that because of that wish something had happened to Roy.

Ed moved slowly, turning his body towards Roy he cradled the back of the other teens head with his free hand but said nothing, not wanting to overwhelm someone who very obviously didn't like most touches. What could he say to that being dropped on his plate, he didn't have to ask to know that Roy felt out of place in his home after essentially being abandoned by each of his parents. He'd been wrong in his original thought, Roy acting out all that time ago towards Riza and whatever other friends he'd had wasn't because of the fighting Witches, it was simply a case of someone trying so hard to be cared about and being left for the wolves.

That pissed him off.


	5. Mending In Moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are going really well and Ed soaks it all in.

It felt like the first day of school again when Ed entered the expensive looking apartment building with Roy and watched the elevator numbers keep on climbing. Just having been in the hallway Ed could tell this place must cost a good amount of money to keep every month, expensive just like their school and not something the blond was used to or particularly fond of.

He kept an eye on Roy from his peripheral vision, seeing the smaller teen smoothly push some of his short black hair behind his ears before saying in an almost inaudible quietness. "It's um, pretty late...If it's more convenient for you, feel free to spend the night here. I live by myself so I have plenty of space."

A tight knot formed inside of Ed's lower stomach and the back of his neck felt hot. "What time is it exactly?" Roy had a cell phone but Ed didn't have that luxury. "Almost four in the morning."

"Shit.." he swore under his breath and became agitated, pacing lightly in the elevator. "Al is probably so worried about me and my dad is probably _pissed_! Roy, can I use your phone please!?" putting his hands together Ed practically begged with pleading golden eyes. "Of course, let's get up to the apartment first, you can use it all you need while I take a shower."

As promised minutes later Ed was left having told to make himself at home in a very expensive looking living room, nerves ran through him worse than when he was fighting the Witch. So he paced and clicked on his own contact info in the phone as he heard the distant sound of water running in the bathroom. " _Hello_?" Al's hopeful voice answered.

"Al! Thank fuck it's you and not dad! Look I'm so _so fucking_ sorry I didn't call or come home earlier, there was an emergency! My friend he was having a really rough time, and like an idiot I wasn't even thinking about-" Ed said out in one long breath with barely any spacing between his words.

"Brother calm down! Shh, please. I...we've both been so worried, I'm not happy...But your friend needed you. I know you're not the type of person to make us worry on purpose so it really must have been serious, dad finally fell asleep he's been pacing around all night. I-I'll cover for you in the morning, just this once, but next time you'd better call earlier." Ed was so happy he was practically in tears, he had such a good baby brother. "Thank you Al, you're seriously the best. My friend is letting me spend the night but I'll be home first thing tomorrow, er-by noon at the very latest."

Now that he was talking to his brother and starting to relax all of his muscles were starting to feel tired and sleep wanting to sink into his mind more with every moment. "Okay, and tomorrow I want to hear about this new friend of yours." Nodding to the phone Ed agreed, "Sure, anything you want. Night Al."

"Goodnight Ed."

At some point he must have dozed off, only coming to on the couch as two hands shook him lightly and a voice called to him. "Edward, hey. If you sleep like that you'll get a kink in your neck." Blinking his eyes a few times Ed looked up tiredly to where Roy was leaned over him and groaned, rubbing one of his eyes with the back of his hand. "I'll move then."

"You sure that you don't want a shower first?" the other offered, he looked refreshed after taking one himself. "Mn I'll take one in the morning." Roy showed him to his guest room and Ed was sure they both passed out as soon as their heads hit the pillows.

Hot water in the morning was just what Ed needed to feel at ease as he woke up, steam filled the shower. As he rinsed his long hair out Ed sighed gently and glanced at his automail arm, he'd always had mixed feelings about it. On one hand it made life a ton easier but he also had to deal with staring, kids talking shit at school about it and picking fights cause of it, not to mention the doctor visits on occasion to make sure the surgery was still sturdy or seeing the Rockbells for painful adjustments when he grew in height. There were times during certain weathers when it became painful, intense heat could make it sizzle and burn his skin including where it was attached to his shoulder, while the extreme cold made the connecting area ache to no end like a pulsing throb.

Thinking of how he'd been able to kill Witches as of late using it, and save Roy last night, it softened Ed's thoughts about the piece of metal. If he could help people like he had with it, maybe it was worth going through all of the pain and sticking out his life with it.

Roy had woken up earlier this morning and stolen the clothes Ed had left strewn across his borrowed rooms floor to throw into a dryer since they were still somewhat damp. Not only that but they looked ironed and free of wrinkles. So for the first time as he got dressed Ed felt proud of his metal arm piece and only put on his black tank top, tying his long sleeve shirt around his waist.

Letting his wet blond hair hang down onto his shoulders Ed stretched his arms once, cracking his back, and headed out into the small kitchen to find Roy setting two plates on his table before looking up at him and almost freezing. "Roy, you ok?"

"Ye-um yeah I'm fine. I just have never seen your hair out of a braid or ponytail, didn't realize it was so long." his dark eyes flickered to Ed's automail only once but didn't linger or avoid the area, in fact Roy seemed almost uninterested in the thing completely.

"I haven't cut it since my mother passed away, what are you making for breakfast?" he was starved and wasn't going to turn down food though he wasn't planning on staying long either, he had to get home to his family.

"Eggs and sausage. Sorry to hear that, when did she pass away?" there was a soft empathy in the other's voice as he walked back to the stove to keep an eye on his cooking food. "Let's see, it'll be four years this year. Almost two years since Al got sick with the same disease."

"I remember you'd mentioned your family has been through a lot in the last few years." Roy said back, "I'm very glad that your brother was able to get better with your wish at least." Moving close to Roy's back he looked around the other teen and sniffed the air, his stomach growled loudly. "I've got to get going so I'm just gonna steal two of these-!" With his metal hand Ed snagged two of the sausages from the hot pan, turned on his heel and headed towards the door.

Roy turned almost as quickly and took just a few small steps towards his movements, "Ah, are you sure you don't want to stay for breakfast?" his eyes flickered to where he'd set out the two plates and then back to where Ed was getting his shoes on and popping one of the too-hot sausages into his mouth greedily. "Can't." he said with a mouthful and scrunched his eyes as his mouth burned with delicious hot food. "Gotta get home before I get into more trouble." Swallowing thickly around the food and opened the door. "Thanks for everything though, see you at school!"

"Yeah, see you at school!" Roy called, Ed completely missed the disappointed look in the younger teens eyes.

The blond rushed home, right up until his front door where he hesitated. Gaining up the courage he walked inside and called, "I'm home!" His father stepped out with crossed arms and a parental look on his face, "Al told me where you were..."

"H-He did huh?" he had no idea if his brother had lied for him or just passed along his message but put on a sweet baby face trying to make their father less angry about his acts along with it.

"That your friend just got dumped and was in a bad place..." the man's hair looked messy and his eyes looked tired like he hadn't slept well. "I know you think I'm just trying to put a leash on you but I'm not, you're sixteen and you're smart but that doesn't mean I won't worry if you don't come home at night."

"So...I'm not in trouble." Ed stated instead of asking, his father sounded more like he was looking for confirmation instead of excuses. "It wasn't something planned, he really did need me I promise. I didn't mean to worry you or Al."

"I believe you Edward, but before you go apologize for worrying your brother just tell me...were you really with a friend. Or were you with... _someone_? You're being safe aren't you?"

"Gah shut up you old man I don't need you to talk to me about that stuff!" his face burst full of red just thinking about having sex with anyone, especially Roy. "That wasn't it at all!" Walking past his father quickly to cut the birds and bees shit early.

Al was more upset than their father, punching him weakly in the shoulder before hugging him and voicing all of his complaints while Ed apologized. The younger brother refused to accept his apology unless Ed promised to spend some time with him on that day, which Ed was happy to oblige. Later that day they sat in the living room playing a fighting game together, Ed was mostly mashing buttons not bothering to memorize the combos but was somehow winning at that point in the match.

"So this guy you've been telling me about-"

"Roy." Ed cut in.

"Right, Roy. Do you like him?"

Angling his hands as he continued to press buttons hard on the controller as if it made his fighting better, he shrugged. "Of course I do, I wouldn't have stayed the night to help him out if I didn't."

"No I mean you _like_ him idiot." Al frowned and huffed loudly, dropping the controller in his lap. "How do you keep beating me when you haven't even played this? Unbelievable."

"Not you too Al..." blushing lightly he ignored Al's whine about losing. "I'm not sure yet, he's...he's cute, and I think he's starting to open up with me more than he was before. Still he's been kind of rude and cold to me before, I have no idea what his sexuality is and it might be better if we just stay friends."

"I see well, good luck with all of that Ed." Starting up a new match Al picked a different character, a large suit of armor and muttered. "Maybe I should mash the buttons too, I wonder if it'll boost my chances of winning...hm.."

At school Ed had almost forgotten about the night of comradery with Roy and expected his usual lonely anti-social day, up until he sat down at lunch and felt the table shift with someone else sitting across from him. Looking up Ed smiled, "Hey Roy."

"Hello Edward." Roy said with a cold look on his face but opened his home lunch to start eating his sandwich. "It's ok that I sit here, right?"

"Yeah of course it is!" something felt like it clicked into the right place with the world as he watched his new friend eat across from him in a comfortable silence. "Roy!" he exclaimed loudly, spooking the younger teen, "Do you wanna go to a concert with me in a few weeks?" It had just occurred to him that the party Russel had mentioned was coming up soon, what better place to hang out than a big party with good music?

Roy's face lit up with a brightness and he nodded, "That sounds really cool. Yeah, I'd like that." It became their norm to sit with each other at lunch starting that day, and by the time Friday rolled around he'd managed to squeeze several small conversations out of Roy. So when he was out on Sunday fighting a Witch deep inside of its Labyrinth and Roy showed up halfway through all he could do was grin and call out, "Hey Roy!" as if they weren't in a situation of fighting for their lives.

"Idiot, keep yourself focused!" Roy snapped at him as he'd expected but still it didn't wipe the joy from his face. Striking the Witch in the heart soon after the Labyrinth, which looked like a badly colored child's coloring book, withered away leaving them in the middle of an abandoned building together. A grief seed sitting on the floor as the only evidence that the Witch had been there in the first place.

"We make such a good team!" he beamed at the dark haired boy and held his hand up for a high five, completely optional. It was ignored. "I was doing alright on my own but once you came in and used your fire it was like we were unstoppable!"

Rubbing the back of his neck humbly Roy couldn't help but catch some of the contagious expression and smile just a little. "Not unstoppable but...we were pretty good as a team. You gave me the last grief seed so why don't you take this one?"

Picking it off the floor Ed transformed back into his street clothes, as usual he wore a black tank top with a band logo on it and black jeans with a studded belt. Holding up his Soul Gem to inspect it he shrugged one shoulder and used the grief seed to clear up the slightly clouded aura from it. "Let's just share, it doesn't take much of my magic to transform my arm into whatever I need, unlike your fire."

"I don't need-" Roy started but Ed cut him off, "Nonsense!" Trying to be as gentle as possible Ed quirked his lips into a smirk and in a slow motion took Roy's wrist, the hand that had his gem embedded on it still since he hadn't turned back yet. Ed had learned not all of his friendly touches were rejected but he always needed to leave those opportunities for Roy to get away from them if he couldn't take it. "How can you even tell when it gets cloudy if your gem is naturally dark like this?" It was a lighter shade of gray but when Ed pressed the grief seed to it a lot more dark aura pulled off of it than from his own gem before.

"I can tell don't worry about it." the younger said while pulling his hand from Ed's grip, holding his hand to his chest and rubbing a thumb over the gem. "You're too kind to be in this line of work, people like us tend to fight each other rather than work together. That way they can collect grief seeds for themselves and use all the magic they want."

It sounded familiar, Roy might have briefly mentioned something like that to him before. "Well I don't need to be like anyone else, and we're friends. It's not like you've ever fought someone to the death over these things right?" his voice was light but Roy's tightened at the mention. "...Right?"

"I...I don't want to talk about it Edward, just forget we were ever on this subject. But know that I have no intention of fighting you for grief seeds." he said firmly.

Trying to laugh it off Ed nodded acknowledging that, he and Roy had come so far in such a short period of time to the point where he could even call them friends. Only now was his mind finally accepting something he'd long since known, that Roy was far more dangerous than his smaller stature appeared. Not only to Witches, but to him as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Next Chapter Ed and Roy start to get verrrrry flirty and actual stuff starts happening.


	6. The World Felt Right, Only For a Moment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Roy go on a date, sort of. While they can.

The school year was almost two months in and the weather had turned hotter, the air becoming humid and beyond that. Ed had become more accustom to his private school and even made a few other friends that he spoke to during classes, Al was doing so well physically and mentally that at home they'd started talking about enrolling him into public school again.

He was riding a high on how everything had been going his way as of late, both in normal life and his secret job life. Each weekend Ed would head over to Roy's apartment and they would go out searching for Witches periodically and hang out in between, sometimes they found multiple, sometimes all they found were smaller Familiars, and others they didn't find any. The Witches seemed more active during weekends when more people were out late and rambunctious but a few times they'd both sensed one during the week and gotten together to get rid of it quickly.

Ed had gotten used to how Roy operated by now, he had a lot of pent-up issues from being neglected and perhaps more. It caused him to occasionally be moody, a lot of the time now he was in a generally even mood but sometimes he would snap and Ed would just need to ride through it and calm the situation. It had taken a little pestering but he had managed to convince Roy to speak to Riza and apologize to her, Roy had been an anxious mess for days up until he did it. He spotted them around school chatting once in a while since then, Roy always seemed unsure of himself talking to her but Riza's face always lit up when her friend approached.

Today had been like any other, fighting a Witch with the boy he considered his partner even though it had never been made official verbally. Roy was fast and Ed was a hard hitter so their usual plan was for the younger of them to distract with small bursts of fire and his speed while Ed figured out where the heart was and sliced it into pieces. The Witches name was _Capti_ and it's Labyrinth looked like a giant cage, small bird cages hung along the walls and ceilings but the creatures inside were vicious with sharp teeth and claws that would reach out and swipe at them.

Roy had already gotten cut by several before they'd made it to the actual Witch, as Ed made the final strike he planted his feet to stop his successful running attack and turned back towards his partner. The dark haired boy was kneeling on the ground holding his bleeding arm as the Labyrinth started to collapse, seeing the ceiling collapse over them instinct kicked in. He ran, full on tackling the other teen to the ground after clapping his hands and turning his automail into a shield that he positioned above them to take any falling debris damage.

He hadn't even been thinking, he'd done this numerous times with Roy yet he still hadn't considered the fact that Labyrinths melted away. So when the once heavy looking debris hit his shield it felt light as paper and shriveled up, not dangerous in the least.

Panting he let his arm turn back into an actual arm then looked down at Roy, who was sprawled underneath him and looking back up into his eyes. "Uh hi." he smiled but didn't move yet.

"Hello Edward." returned a soft smile. "Fancy meeting you in a place like this." It was a poor attempt at human but it made Ed chuckle anyways.

"Ah! Sorry, I know you don't really like being touched." Ed started to shift his legs and arms so they weren't pressed against the other teen physically.

"You say that yet you don't get off."

"Maybe I don't want to get off." Pressing his hands to the sides of Roy's head he leaned over and continued flirting, "You try to act really tough but you're actually amazingly cu-"

Groaning loudly with a whine Roy pushed his hands firmly against Ed's chest, "Off!" and when Ed refused he shoved the blond with his improved magical strength, sat up and pushed himself to his feet. As he dusted himself off Roy stepped over and leaned, extending his hand out. "I'm starving, want to go to the usual?"

Laying on the ground dramatically after being shoved Ed took the hand and was pulled to his feet. "Yeah, but you know the rules. I have to be home by 10 pm." It was a school night but each of them had rushed off after feeling the Witch in a frenzy after school. Ed had made a deal with Al and sort of his father also that on school nights he would be home by ten or call if he wouldn't be. They wouldn't bother him about what he was doing otherwise.

The little cafe downtown they'd gone to have the water Witch weeks ago had become their normal place when out on a job. They always sat in the back booth when it was open, most times it was, and Ed had learned by now Roy didn't like bitter things. His drink had to be coffee extremely sweetened or hot chocolate if he wasn't going to get yelled at.

Handing Roy his sweet and chocolately drink Ed smiled watching him sip at the hot liquid. Holding his own glass of iced coffee Ed shook his head, "How you drink that hot stuff in this weather is beyond me." Roy didn't say anything back but his expression was completely relaxed and he had a little pep in his leg bounce under the table.

"That concert is coming up this Friday, do you still want to come?" he asked the younger teen. Nodding as he pulled his cup away from his face Roy licked his lips once, "I do, don't think you can take back my invitation just because you know I'm a stick in the mud now."

"I'd never!" Ed touched a hand to his chest and feigned hurt, but it was true. He'd made a mental promise to never make Roy feel like he didn't care to the best of his ability. He wanted them to be there for each other and though he was quiet and held to himself Roy had moments where that showed through his personality too. He would ask how Al was doing, if Ed was keeping his grades up, treating to coffee, he showed in his own ways.

"Since we'll be out late why don't you stay at my place part of the weekend? That way you won't bug your family coming home early in the morning." Roy offered with a hopeful gleam in his eyes and Ed quickly agreed to it. "Thanks, you're the best Roy!"

"I'm about to get even better." Rummaging into his backpack Roy pulled out a small rectangular box and slid it in front of Ed, the picture on the front was of a fancy looking cell phone. "This isn't...for me, is it?"

"Yeah." the younger teen shrugged, "My dad sends expensive gifts over to me once in a while, he thinks it'll keep me from bothering him. I like my phone already so you can have it, he won't even notice the double phone bill trust me." Reaching over Roy shoved the box a little closer to his friend since Ed had refused to touch it thus far. "Take it." he urged.

"I...I can't take this! These things are like eight hundred dollars!" Ed put his hands up like someone who was being told to pick up a big hairy spider instead of a nice smartphone.

Dark eyes became more serious and Ed went quiet. "Look if I need to get in touch with you during an emergency Witch fight and you aren't home, or your brother or father start asking questions then what am I supposed to do? Take.the.phone.Edward."

Gulping the blond finally pulled the box open, Roy had a point even if this still felt weird. He'd never held something so expensive in his hands before, his automail didn't even cost as much as the phone. The screen was so sleek and clear as he pulled the protective plastic off and booted it up, he whistled softly. "Fancy...um, thank you. Thanks a lot Roy."

"It's nothing, if it helps consider it a very late or early birthday gift." Their birthdays weren't too far off from each other's, Ed's was at the beginning of February while Roy's was in the middle of December. Both still quite a few months off, the weather only just starting to turn cooler.

Walking Roy to his apartment Ed reached slowly and tugged at a few strands of the other's dark hair. "I just noticed that last fight left your hair a complete mess, it's sticking up everywhere!" the blond laughed. Roy reached up and Ed was about to pull his hand away, usually that meant to stop. Instead a warm hand touched his own, pulling his hand away but the touch itself lingered much longer than it ever did.

"Yeah, I should probably take a shower. See you tomorrow at school?"

"Always." Ed muttered watching Roy's back disappear into the doorway, his heart beating quickly. "Fuck.." This feeling had been plaguing him more and more lately, when Roy was close or soft with him his heart would race and his body would feel hot.

Ed messed around on his new phone a lot in the days coming up to Friday, after school he went home to change out of his uniform and get ready. He sent his first text to the other number in his phone so far, Roy of course. _-I'm headed over to walk with you, be there in fifteen.-_ and only moments later a response, _-Okay see you soon.-_ Such a simple back and forth but it was exciting.

Not too long later he was walking side by side with Roy, the sun starting to go down on the horizon. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and hold the other boy's hand or touch his hand to Roy's back affectionately but he refrained from either.

Coming up on the place it was already loud with them standing outside, it had just started and the music wasn't supposed to stop until late into the night. Roy had mentally prepared himself for all the people that would be inside but insisted he'd be fine. Inside was much louder, you could feel the musics bass in your chest pounding and leaving an excitement in its wake.

Roy's eyes widened and at first Ed was worried that this might be too much for him, about to offer that they could leave the younger teen reached to grab his wrist and exclaimed. "Let's go!" and pulled him in towards the dance floor. Roy was fine but rarely strayed from Ed's side during the night, sometime around midnight after they'd danced and partied themselves out and were in need of a break Russel finally caught sight of them and pulled Ed into the adjacent room where it was easier to talk.

"Hey, I finally found you!" Russel grinned at his friend and peaked over behind Ed where Roy was going to the counter to get a drink and not paying attention to their conversation. "When I saw you last week you didn't tell me the person you were bringing was a boy, a _really cute_ boy." he wiggled an eyebrow.

"Go shove it Russ', we're just friends." frowning at first Ed started to smile at the other blond, "He is cute, isn't he?" getting a playful shove in his shoulder from Russel after saying it and they laughed together.

Roy pitter-pattered his way over to Ed drinking soda from a red cup, "Oh, hello." Roy said in his firm tone.

"Roy this is my friend Russell." he introduced and watched Russell extend his hand to shake only to be ignored by Roy. "Nice to meet you." the dark-haired boy said quick and looked at Ed, "We should go back out there and have fun more." It wasn't often Ed got to see Roy this excited about anything, he couldn't refuse. "Okay you go I'll be there in literally two minutes."

When they were alone again Russell was left blinking, "He's an odd one, but _shit_ that face. He really seems keen on you doesn't he? Couldn't give two flying fucks about anyone else." Russell had always been the one between them better at getting dates or making friends, so Roy preferring Ed was different. "Well go, have fun on your date I won't spoil it."

They'd never specified it as a date, did Roy take it as one when Ed had asked him to come?

Either way at that moment, the world felt right.


	7. Drop of the Shoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ed and Roy head back to the apartment for some cuddles and kisses. Not all is well though as a wild Kimblee appears!

After finishing his talk with Russell Ed went and downed an ice cold water to rehydrate and quench his thirst. Walking back out onto the dance floor his eyes scanned the dark room, there were so many people jammed together making it extremely hot and there were disco rave lights waving throughout the room as the music pounded.

"Edward over here!" he just managed to hear over the music and turned, Roy was standing up against the wall and sipping at his red cup and waiting for Ed's return. "Hey." he greeted, Roy frowned. "Are you upset about something?" the blond asked.

"No, I think I'm just tired. Being around so many people is exhausting." good, that was fixable. Gesturing with a hand wave Ed ushered them both outside into the much cooler air. "Your energies all drained isn't it?" Ed laughed lightly in the back of his throat.

It was nice to cool off as they walked back to Roy's place, letting their ears rest in the silence of the night and their chests relax with the faded beat of the DJ's music. "Have you ever been to a party like that before?" Roy asked first.

"Yeah a few times, Russell drags me along every year. Contrary to what you think I'm usually very good with people, I'm very sociable!" Ed exclaimed, it had just been this school year a shyness had washed over his personality due to stresses. With time maybe it would fade again, or not, he was learning to deal with it one way or another.

"I've always been more of the quiet type, I like my books and my close circles. Something like this was different for me, but nice. I'm really glad you invited me." It wasn't often Ed got to see Roy smile so genuinely like he was and it was contagious.

For now, the blond decided it wasn't a good time to ask if this had been a date. The night had gone well, they were both having a great time in each other's company and they had definitely both been flirting with each other while hanging out and on Witch hunts. Still, Ed didn't want to chance ruining it with that question.

Roy took a shower first after returning and then Ed did, changing into fresh clothes he'd brought along to sleep in. Leaving the bathroom the apartment smelled like food, to be specific it smelled like pizza being heated up in the oven. Good, he was starving! Flopping himself down onto the gray couch Ed propper his feet up on the coffee table and sighed loudly, closing his eyes. "I feel exhausted after moving around so much."

"Don't fall asleep, you have to help me eat this pizza!" Roy called from the adjacent kitchen, when he wasn't answered Ed heard his footsteps come closer and stop right in front of him. The couch sunk in next to him where Roy sat and just barely Ed could feel the pressure of fingertips touching his automail arm. He peeked one of his gold eyes open at the other teen.

"I can't believe you got this when you were ten...that's so young." the dark-eyed boy muttered changing the subject. "I don't think I would have been able to handle it."

"It really wasn't that bad." Ed lied, it was the most excruciating physical pain he had ever been in. If he could go back in time with the knowledge he had now there was no guarantee he would still let them attach the arm knowing how sick and hurt he was after the surgery. "I used to hate this thing...it's grown on me lately."

"Why?" Roy asked and moved his hand to press flat against Ed's automail one, his fingers were only a little smaller than Ed's and more slender but his nails were shorter and looked chewed down to the very base. "I think it looks heroic on you." Curling his metal fingers around Roy's hand Ed finally blinked both of his eyes open fully.

"It's hard to control, if I'm not careful I could sprain or break your fingers just doing this." he said but Roy didn't look worried in the least. Dark eyes looked at him with such trust, Ed didn't feel like he deserved that level of trust yet. He hadn't proven himself to Roy yet that he wasn't going to abandon him, he was going to become someone even more dependable than he was.

"You're thinking too hard, I can see it on your face." Roy let go of Ed's hand and shuffled like he was about to stand up from the couch. Without thinking Ed's non-metal hand reached and pulled Roy by his waist down onto his chest and into the curve of his arm, Roy's legs draped over his lap. After the little tumble Ed froze, was that too much? He waited for Roy to shove off and possibly hit him, but it never came.

Readjusting himself Roy's body relaxed on top of Ed's and he closed his eyes, letting his head rest on the blond's shoulder. "Edward...it's far too warm in here for this." Outside was chilly so it only made sense the apartment was a warmer temperature and not necessarily good for cuddling. "You're right...hm, how about this?" Ed reached and pressed his automail hand over Roy's forehead, the metal was always much cooler than his body temperature unless it was blazing hot in the hot.

"Much better, that feels good." Roy's hand touched over the metal to keep it in place as neither of them moved. So many times his touch had been pushed away, far more than they had been accepted, and yet Roy was laying there soaking in the moment like a starving man to food. Neither of them wanted to move, or at least they wouldn't have if the oven hadn't beeped at that very moment, Roy groaned and pushed himself off to fetch the food. Returning to the living room with two plates full of pizza and soda to go with it. "Dig in."

To say Ed stuffed his face was putting it lightly, he practically inhaled his pizza and ended up stealing one of Roy's untouched pieces as well. Licking his fingers as he finished Roy looked over and watched the smaller teen nibble at his own piece. Inching over on the couch their arms brushed together, "Roy-" he started, trying to bubble up the courage that was leftover in his chest, "-I think you're really cool."

Glancing at him with his dark eyes the other replied, "I think you're cool too Edward. What's your point?" then moved to look him more directly in the eyes. That was Ed's undoing, face to face properly his cheeks started to heat up and the nerves set in. "I jus-..I just um...you're cool." he repeated.

Roy's eyes blinked slowly, once, twice, and then he laughed. It was more of a giggle with the way he held it back and his shoulders shook with it. Biting the inside of his cheek Ed looked away only for Roy to exclaim, "Oh don't pout!" he was not pouting dammit!

In a quick movement Ed cupped Roy's face with both of his hands and pinched his cheeks, "Don't laugh I'm trying to say something important here!" Roy only laughed more, "I _know_ that's why it's so cute watch you try to find the words!" _This little shit! That's it!_

Making the move Ed pulled Roy closer and kissed him chastely, the giggle dying as their lips met. The silence wasn't unsettling and Roy's hand found it's way to Ed's shoulder, pulling them closer together as his dark eyes closed into the kiss. It didn't last long before they parted, Roy still smiling and looking rather smug much to Ed's chagrin. "You..."

"I know that you like me." the younger boy stated, "I'm fine with that." Well it was probably the closest thing Ed was going to get to an _I like you too_ so he'd take it! His hairs all felt like they were standing on edge with electricity and his lips tingled from the remaining feeling of the kiss. "Does that mean I can kiss you again?"

Leaning in closer Roy shrugged nonchalantly, "Sure, if you want to." Ed kissed Roy with the energy of a drowning man keeping himself afloat and with the skill of one. After only a moment Roy pulled back, "Ow, have you never kissed someone before?" and rubbed his bottom lip with his thumb where Ed's teeth had scraped. "You haven't, that's a surprise."

It wasn't something Ed was embarrassed about, he'd just never felt like kissing someone before now. "I'm not surprised that you have, you've got a bad attitude but your face is adorable. I'm sure you lured some poor sucker in before he knew what he was getting into." Ed joked. Roy snorted back with a light roll of his eyes, "Just, slowly, like this."

This time Roy took the lead and moved their lips together, Ed followed his movements just as instructed and let the younger teen wrap arms around his neck and pull himself flushed close. Slow, stay slow, he kept reminding himself. _I think I'm getting the hang of this._

Winding his arms around Roy's back he put more pressure into the kiss, when Roy left himself open Ed tested the waters and swiped his tongue against the other's. "Mnn." the other softly moaned wanting more.

They kissed for what felt like forever, in actuality it was only ten minutes. Stopping as Roy pulled back with fluttery eyes and a dreamy look on his face, "Sorry I'm just really uh, really tired. We should go to bed."

"Probably yeah." Ed said with a breathy smile, retreating his arms to let Roy go free. "I'll see you in the morning." pressing one last kiss to Roy's cheek he fled into the spare room and closed the door, finally letting out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "I-I did it, I kissed him..."

Saturday morning Ed walked out into the kitchen and watched Roy's back as he was cooking, he felt like a lovesick teenager as a bubbly warm feeling filled his stomach and chest like it was going to overflow. Was it alright to touch Roy more now, was it ok to just go up and kiss him good morning?

"Oh. Good morning Edward." Roy said after catching sight of blond hair from the corner of his eyes. "Mo-Morning!" he said nervously back. Swallowing down the nerves the best he could Ed decided to take initiative.

He walked up behind the other teen to place his hands on the other's hips, pausing for a few seconds so if Roy really wanted to get away he'd voice himself but it never came. Assuming that was permission the blond wrapped his arms tightly around Roy's waist and pulled him back against Ed's chest a few inches, nuzzling into Roy's shoulder. "You're really cute when you cook..."

Relaxing into the touch Roy still reached to keep his food from burning, "You're pretty cute when you try to voice your feelings." he had a small malevolent giggle in the back of his throat. "Shut it." Ed grumbled but didn't let go until he had to minutes later when the food was done.

After breakfast Roy was seeing him out at the door, "Roy do you wanna hang out tonight? I can come over, bring pizza and we'll watch some shitty scary movies?"

"I'd like that a lot. Text me when you're on your way over I might go to the store so I want to make sure you don't get locked out." Roy smiled softly at him. Ed leaned to kiss him chastely once, "I'll see you tonight." then headed off home.

His entire walk home Ed kept stopping and looking around, for some reason there were chills on the back of his neck, he felt like someone was staring at him and it wasn't going away. Checking his pocket watch it looked fine and it wasn't sensing any Witch or Familiar anywhere in the vicinity so that was good, but also bad, it meant this was purely a human problem.

The same feeling cropped up again that evening as he was on his way over to Roy's with pizza in hand half with pepperoni for himself and the other half mushroom and onion for Roy. A chill went up the blond's spine and quickly he turned on his heel, there was a figure leaning his back against a building. The rest of the street was mostly dead other than a few people in the distance on the other side of the street.

Just looking at this guy gave Ed a bad feeling, he looked older by a few years and a good bit taller with slicked-back black hair, tight leather pants and a cool leather jacket to match with...with a silver pocket watch chain hanging out of one of the pockets. Another magical boy?

There was little to no fear in Ed's body as he walked straight over to the other teen, it was much easier facing up to some asshole than it was to lean in and kiss Roy he found. "You've been spying on me, why?" he asked in a demanding and tough voice.

A smirk pulled up on the other's lips, "You and I need to talk, maybe you're not as stupid as I thought if you at least noticed me watching you."

"What do you want?"

"Hey hey that's not polite!" the man stood up straight instead of leaning back to show off his height. "Call me Kimblee." untucking a hand from his pockets they shook hands. "Edward Elric." the blond's voice was stiff and he glared, trying to look as intimidating as he could as he'd learned to do towards bullies in the past.

"Edward huh? Well Ed I'm Roy's ex, I'll be blunt I'm not over him _at all_. Good thing is I can tell you some things that are going to make you not want to be around him anymore on your own, it's win-win!"

A jealous ex, of course. Nothing with Roy had been easy so why had Ed thought that dating him would be any different? "There's nothing you can tell me about him that would turn me away now." Not after he'd finally worked Roy into opening up to him.

"I figured as much, but this isn't stuff just about him, it's about our kind. These are things he and I figured out long ago but I'm positive he hasn't told you yet or you would know what I"m talking about." the guy's voice became a bit more somber and the smirk started to fade.

"Just tell me already then dammit!"

Pulling his pocket watch out Kimblee flicked it open revealing a dark blood red gem, "Do you know why this is called a Soul Gem? Because it's literally our soul, when Kyubey makes a contract with us he severs our soul from our body and places it into these gems to amplify our magic."

"I...okay?" he didn't quite understand where the other was coming from, the gems were their actual souls but why did that matter?

"You fucking idiot. Look, that Gem is where you really are now and if you lose it your body becomes like a doll and goes limp!" Kimblee snapped.

Ed felt like he'd been kicked in the stomach, he clicked open his own watch to look at the gem, that made a lot of sense. A concentrated place where they could focus their magic through, easy to carry and protect, "Is that why I feel less pain now?"

He'd barely noticed it, getting hurt by Witches could be very painful but it was a tolerable pain that he'd gotten used to. Where he had really noticed the difference was in his automail attachment, since taking the contract with Kyubey the ports didn't hurt nearly as often and his shoulder cramped up a lot less. He had chalked it up to his magic making him stronger and more powerful so it hadn't alarmed him before, never thinking that his mind might not be directly connected to his body anymore.

His hands began to shake with a mixture of anger and fear. "But if that's true it means that we...we're not.."

"Human. We're not human anymore or not much of us are at least. Our bodies are simply puppets we control, we can manipulate them however we want. It's disgusting isn't it?" Kimblee didn't even have to ask, he could see the same detesting look in Ed's golden eyes as he and Roy had when they'd first found out. "Why do you think Roy has such a hard time letting people touch him, he knows he isn't human."

"Why didn't he tell me?" Ed asked, betrayal laced in his voice as it began to shake. "He should have told me, I had a right to know."

"Because he likes you and he wanted you to like him, having this knowledge is what tore the two of us apart in the end. Roy was so desperate to feel like a person again, I guess you managed that for a while if he's letting you hang around." This bastard was manipulating him, Ed knew that and he was trying not to take the bait but actual anger was flooding his veins.

This was something about his body he would have liked to know from either Kyubey or from Roy, he had trusted the other teen enough to tell him something so important so that was where most of the anger landed at. He probably still would have made his wish for Al's sake but to Ed this was like going in to surgery to let Al have one of his kidneys only months later to find out the Doctors had also taken his heart and replaced it with a mechanical one. Sure it might be more efficient but it was his body and his choice to say yes or not.

A lot of his anger still stemmed from having little to no choice about getting his automail at such a young age, he'd never felt in control about his own body at that point in life.

"I have to go." he grit out through his teeth, not caring that his metal hand was crushing one end of the pizza box he was still carrying.

"Too-ta-loo!" the older teen waved smugly.

When Roy answered the door to his apartment he looked so happy but this time that happiness had no effect on Ed's own feelings. He was angry, "So I just met Kimblee, your ex-boyfriend and he told me _a lot_ of things."

A knowing look crossed Roy's face as it drained of its smile and color, "He told you about the Soul Gems didn't he? Look I'm sorry I should have told you but I-"

"Yeah you should have told me! I'm really pissed right now and I honestly don't want to see your face, I just came to see if what he told me was true and obviously it is. Have a good night." Ed spit out and shoved the pizza box into Roy's chest before turning to leave.

"Edward wait please! I'm sorry!"

"Don't follow me, just leave me alone!"

Roy didn't follow, which was for the best Ed felt like he needed to punch something. He texted Winry to tell her he was headed over to her place and needed to let off steam about a few things.

A single tear fell from each of Ed's eyes as he passed Kimblee on the street, still leaning where he had been earlier. "I hope you're happy." Ed muttered.


End file.
